Description
The Shastan peoples are a group of people from the Klamath Mountains. They traditionally inhabited portions of several regional waterways including the Klamath, Salmon, Sacramento and McCloud rivers. Shastan lands presently form portions of the Siskiyou, Klamath and Jackson counties. The California Gold Rush drew in an influx of outsiders into California in the late 1840s eager to gain mineral wealth. For the Shasta, this was a devastating process as their lands soon had thousands of miners operating along various waterways.
Language
Shasta language
Culture
Traditional Shastan life was similar to but more difficult than that of the neighbouring Yurok, as Shastan villages were generally confined to narrow ridges of canyons, and their food supply was less plentiful. Like the Yurok and Karok, the Shastan subsisted largely on acorns and salmon and traded with other northern California Indians, using such currency as dentalium shells and scarlet woodpecker scalps. Shastan villages, dwellings, and communal sweat houses were similar to those of other tribes in the region, though Shastan men were inclined to put up their own individual sweat houses in addition to the communal structure. Shastan religion centred on guardian spirits and shamanism.